‘As a trainee detective, it makes me very proud to help bring criminals to justice’
SOLVING CASES: PC Rebecca Davison. Picture by Tom Arran Commercial Photography
By Rick Lyon
PC Rebecca Davison is on course to become one of Humberside Police’s youngest qualified detectives.
Having only recently turned 25, she is an established member of the force’s Protecting Vulnerable People (PVP) investigations team.
She is currently completing a portfolio detailing the cases she has worked on. When that has been assessed and signed off, PC Davison will qualify as a Detective Constable.
But she has already been in the thick of it, playing her part in bringing offenders to justice for serious and often shocking crimes against children and vulnerable adults.
PC Davison was part of the team that investigated historian Shane Jessop after he raped a teenage girl.
BEHIND BARS: Rapist Shane Jessop
Jessop, 49 at the time, of Clovelly Avenue, off Edgecumbe Street, west Hull, was forced to plead guilty at Hull Crown Court in February 2022 due to the weight of evidence PC Davison and her colleagues had gathered against him.
He was jailed for nine years.
At the time, PC Davison had only been on the team for six months.
“I hadn’t been in the department very long, but we managed to gather so much strong evidence that he pleaded guilty, so it didn’t go to trial – sparing the victim and her family from going through that further ordeal,” said PC Davison.
“He was arrested and interviewed the same day the report came in. He denied it, and said it just didn’t happen.
“A medical examination was carried out on the victim, including forensic swabs, and they came back with his DNA on.
“That was obviously crucial, but we also gathered a lot more evidence that added to the case.
“We recovered doorbell camera footage of the victim crying, and clearly in a very distressed state.
“She told us she saw someone at a takeaway soon afterwards and told them what had happened. We secured the CCTV footage of this and located the person she spoke to, who confirmed what she said. That was an important disclosure witness statement.
“Jessop had also been to a festival, and was known to have had some glitter on his face. We found that same glitter on the victim’s clothing.
‘PROUD TO BE A POLICE OFFICER’: PC Rebecca Davison talking to The Hull Story. Picture by Tom Arran Commercial Photography
“We just covered everything off, so he had nowhere to go, and he had to admit what he’d done.”
For trainee detective PC Davison, it is a standout case in her career so far.
“I was at court for the sentencing, and I sat with the victim’s family,” she said.
“I saw their reaction, and what it meant to them. They were crying, hugging me, and thanking me.
“It makes me very proud to be a police officer when we get results like that, but I was just doing my job.”
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It is a job PC Davison has wanted to do since she was a young child.
She became a Community Safety Volunteer at the age of 16, helping the force with admin tasks.
She signed up to be a Special Constable whilst studying Criminology at the University of Hull, and then applied to become a full-time officer before she had completed her degree.
“I always wanted to be a police officer,” said PC Davison. “My mum works in the prison service, and I think that played a part.
“But I also didn’t ever want to be doing the same thing, day in, day out, and I wanted a job that would allow me to help people, and make a difference. The police gives me all of that.”
TEAM EFFORT: Trainee detective Rebecca Davison speaking with a colleague at Clough Road Police Station. Picture by Tom Arran Commercial Photography
After spending her first year on patrol, PC Davison has been on a fast-track detective course, which has included an intensive eight-week training programme, a National Investigators Exam (NIE), and spending time across different departments to build up her knowledge and experience.
Now, as part of the PVP team at Hull’s Clough Road Police Station, she is completing her portfolio and hopes to qualify as a Detective Constable in the coming weeks.
“I definitely prefer the more investigative side of policing,” said PC Davison. “I like being able to take a step back and assess things.
“You need an open mind, as a detective. We call it funnel vision, rather than tunnel vision. You need to have that big, wide-open mind to assess everything, then you can slowly narrow it down to get to the point you need to get to.
“I enjoy the challenge of pulling all the evidence together to get that good result at the end.”
PC Davison, speaking to The Hull Story in the dedicated “Wellbeing Room” linked to the PVP office, where the team can get some respite from the potentially upsetting cases they have to deal with, said she gets a lot of support.
“Whenever we have what could be a difficult case, my Sergeant will always ask me if I’m OK and dealing with it,” she said. “That support is definitely there, but I tend not to get too upset about things.
“We’re here to do a job and, at the end of the day, someone needs to do it.”
Humberside Police are currently accepting applications to train to become a detective. For more information, click here.